title: Estimate of the light chain repertoire size of fetal and adult BALB/cJ and CBA/J mice.
abstract: The potential light chain repertoires expressed by IgM antibodies of fetal liver and adult spleen cells were compared. B cells from these sources were stimulated by the polyclonal mitogen bacterial lipopolysaccharide and after 3 days were fused to construct hybridomas. The light chains synthesized by these hybridomas were isolated by electrophoresis and their heterogeneity was examined by isoelectric focusing. A total of 109 BALB/c and 77 CBA/J hybridoma-derived light chains obtained from fetal liver and adult spleen cells were analyzed in this way. Fifty-three and 45 unique light chains were obtained from BALB/c and C57BL/6 hybridomas, respectively. Some of these were repeated more frequently than others, but no significant differences were seen in the heterogeneity of the light chain spectrotypes of fetal and adult CBA/J and BALB/cJ mice. Furthermore, the kappa:lambda ratio of light chains were the same in fetal liver as adult-derived hybridomas. These results show that the heterogeneity of light chains as determined by IEF and the kappa:lambda ratio of IgM immunoglobulins is established very early in ontogeny.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000276:immunology; D006825:Hybridomas / Q000276:immunology; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains / Q000235:genetics; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains / Q000235:genetics; D007525:Isoelectric Focusing; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C / Q000235:genetics*; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA / Q000235:genetics*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007147:Immunoglobulin Light Chains; D007145:Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains; D007146:Immunoglobulin lambda-Chains